Solstice (40 page)

I
head out of school, shielding my eyes from the blazing sun. The row of black clouds still hangs in the west, but it’s closer than it was before, and the air almost feels electric. All this is because of me. The seasons are stagnant because of me. It’s eternal summer because of me. Why does it have to be my responsibility anyway? My burden. As if my life falling apart isn’t enough.

I remember standing here talking to Shayne. I think of his arms around me, taking me to the Underworld, and sadness crushes me. I want so much to trust Shayne. Maybe Chloe lied; she has to have lied. I want to trust him, but now I also want to hate him.

I hop on the first shuttle that comes by the school, not caring where it takes me; what does it matter anyway? My life feels like it’s over. I get the brief feeling that someone’s following me, but when I scan the people on the shuttle, no one looks familiar. It’s just a sea of people trying to survive the Global Heating Crisis. A sea of people doomed to slowly incinerate if nothing changes.

I’ve only just turned back to the front when someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn to see Melina.

“Did you get dumped, Piper?”

I want to punch her. “Just shut up, okay.”

“Oh, poor, Piper. She isn’t getting everything she wants for once.” Melina laughs.

I clench my fingernails into my palms. “Was I supposed to die, Melina? Was the box supposed to kill me?”

She presses her pouty lips together. “That would have been ideal.”

“Ideal! For whom?”

Melina laughs and leans forward on the bench seat so her lips are only inches from mine. I hold my position. I am not going to back down from her. She may be a goddess, but so am I.

“Why for me, of course. What a dumb question.”

I glare at her. “What have I ever done to you?”

Scorn flickers across her beautiful face, but she seems to catch herself and erases it quickly, replacing it with her standard serenity. “Piper. Persephone. What haven’t you done? Here I am the goddess of love and beauty, yet you’ve taken the hearts of the only two men I could call my own.”

“Your own?” My mind processes this. “Ares and Hades?”

Melina mocks my apparent stupidity. “Ares, of course. But then there’s my cripple husband Hephaestus. He pined over the box holding your identity, worshipping it like a golden idol. I watched him for years, going to the altar, praying for your release. His prayers are the only reason I knew what was in the box in the first place. The precious secret. Your mother and Apate didn’t tell anyone but him—and him only because he crafted the box and kept it safe. But all it takes is one weak link. So I stole it from him and gave it to you.”

I fix my eyes on her, trying not to let anything show on my face. I can’t believe my mom had worked with the goddess of deceit. Apate defines untrustworthy. My mom should know this. “But I didn’t die, did I?”

Melina shakes her head. “It seems Apate has earned her name as goddess of deceit. Whoever opened the box should have burned in Tartarus, but Apate crossed even your mother, allowing that one person would be able to open the box.”

“The person whose identity was stored inside,” I say.

Melina nods. “That’s right. You. And instead of an existence in Tartarus, which would have simplified my life beyond belief, now here you are once again trying to steal my true love.”

“Not Shayne,” I say. Inwardly, I laugh. If we’re talking about stealing true loves, maybe she should talk to Chloe instead.

“Of course not Shayne,” Melina says. “What a bore. Though I’m sure he, like every other man, would do just about anything to have me. Anything. You do know how men are, don’t you, Piper?”

I’m flooded with relief when she denies wanting Shayne. “How are men?” I ask.

“They’re selfish. And greedy. And all they care about is the conquest. Take your precious Shayne for example. Do you really think all he’s been doing for the last eighteen years is pining away for you?”

I bite my lip. Actually this is exactly what I thought. Exactly what Shayne led me to believe.

She must see my answer in my eyes. “Don’t fool yourself, Piper. Shayne is just like every other man. He doesn’t care about you.”

“You’re wrong,” I say. “You’re just angry because Reese wants me.”

Scorn fills in her eyes. “Reese doesn’t want you. And Shayne doesn’t want you. You’re nothing, Piper. You’re a fallen goddess. You aren’t worthy of someone like Reese’s attention. And if you ever think for a minute that Shayne will be true to you, you’re wrong. No one will ever be true to you. You don’t deserve anything.”

She may be the goddess of beauty, but every word coming out of Melina’s mouth is filled with ugliness. But her words dig deep and burrow inside me. “Why are you acting like this?” I say. In my past life, I remember talking to Aphrodite on occasion, and though maybe we weren’t the best of friends, she never even came close to exhibiting the contempt she’s showing now. “I never did anything to you.”

Melina’s perfect lips press into a perfect smile. And then she leans closer to me and whispers in my ear. “Yes, you did, Piper. You didn’t die.”

I’ve had enough. I stand up so I can get off at the next stop. How can she possibly call herself the goddess of love? She knows nothing of love. Only jealousy and hatred, both of which seem to be directed at me.

“Oh, guess what I heard, Piper?” she calls out to me.

I take the bait and turn. “What?”

“Your friend from school, Randy Conner…”

“What about him?” I ask, and I get a sick feeling in my stomach. Because as soon as I ask the question, I see the answer. I see into the Underworld and into Tartarus. And there is Randy, standing on the banks of the river of fire. He’s been moved from Asphodel and put in Tartarus. Guilt for his father’s death covers him in a layer of red. As I watch, he steps through the wall of fire which makes up the boundary. He screams in a cry so heart rending, my own nerves feel like they are on fire. And then he’s gone.

Melina smile. “Yeah. I thought you’d want to know about one more life you’ve screwed up.”

I turn away from her and get off the bus.

I need to save Randy Conner. If I never do anything else of worth with my new miserable life, I plan to save him from the torture of Tartarus. I’ll go back to the Underworld. I’ll talk to Shayne and sort things out. He can clear up everything. This mess with Randy Conner. The untruth of his infidelity and Chloe’s betrayal. I’m about to call out for him but stop myself as an image of Chloe wrapped in his embrace forms in my mind. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to force it away. It’s not true. It just can’t be true. But the image persists, and I remain silent.

I look at the clouds and start to walk toward them. And like they’re responding to me, they move closer with each step I take. Closer to me and closer to Austin. I head up the rocky cliff that overlooks the Colorado River, and I watch them. Dare them to come any nearer. Almost in response, lightning streaks through the clouds parallel to the horizon.

It’s late afternoon, and there are a few college kids hanging around under a canopy, listening to music. They look over at me, and one of them waves. I wave back, remembering my visit to the Drag with Chloe to get our tattoos. To think I planned on being one of those kids. On leading a normal life. The Fates had been against me from the start.

One of the guys smiles, and motions me over. “Come join us. We’ve got plenty to share.”

I look to the bottle of liquor he’s holding, and honestly, a part of me is tempted. To grab hold of something normal from this world and hang onto it.

“We don’t bite,” the girl calls. “And anyway, Dylan here needs a date.” She points to the boy on her right who gives me an inviting grin. Then she leans over and kisses the other guy full on the mouth until all three of them roll back laughing. Oh my god, they lead such normal lives, even amid the Global Heating Crisis. They don’t have to worry about any of the craziness filling my world.

I shake my head, and they wave as I walk away. Behind me, I know the clouds follow. The wind starts to pick up, and darkness extends its fingers until it surrounds me on three sides. Lightning fills the sky again, but there’s not a rain drop in sight. The storm coming is pure electricity. It’s been brewing since my most recent trip to the Underworld, and any minute, it’s going to strike.

Once I’m out of the college kids’ sight, I sink down to the hard-packed dirt and rocks. I have to save Randy, but I can’t bring myself to call for Shayne. I don’t want his help. I still hear the music and laughter in the background as I scoot toward the edge of the cliff and look down. The water is so far receded that rocks and sand nearly reach the middle from both sides, leaving a thin ribbon of stagnant brown wetness in between. It’s the only way I’ve known the river. Slow. Dead. Empty.

If I go away, will everything change? Will autumn return and winter come? Will the Global Heating Crisis really end?

“You’re Persephone.”

I whip around at Chloe’s voice, and see her standing there. She must’ve followed me on the shuttle. But it’s not the taunting, horrible Chloe from the auditorium come to tell me she’s sleeping with my boyfriend. It’s the withdrawn Chloe. The one who’s almost died. And neither of them is the one I really want to see. I want my old Chloe back. I want Shayne back.

I turn to the overlook, away from her, and watch the sky. “Yeah. So what?”

I feel her sit down next to me, leaving space in between us.

“You didn’t tell me.”

I shake my head, not knowing if she’s looking at me. “You never gave me the chance.”

We sit there not speaking for a while. I’m not going to start up a conversation with her, and she seems to be trying to figure out what to say. If she even has anything to say. Lightning strikes again, straight down to the earth this time. It hits the bridge crossing the river with a crack so loud, the whole ground shakes.

“Why did you save me?”

I turn, and Chloe’s looking at me. Her eyes contain a sorrow I never used to see. The Chloe I got a tattoo with never showed sadness. She was all fun. And adventure. She is not this Chloe.

I saved you because I love you, I want to say. But it won’t come to my mouth. “I didn’t save you. Shayne did.”

But Chloe shakes her head. “No. It was you. I remember.”

I turn back to the cliff, picking up a rock and tossing it over. It clatters on the rocky outcrop, skipping vertically until it stops. Far below, what little water is left ripples in the wind.

“What’s going to happen to me when I die?” She sounds like a child asking a random curiosity about the world.

I laugh, still keeping my eyes away from her. “You won’t die, Chloe. You can be Queen of the Underworld.”

I hear Chloe suck in. “Are you kidding? That’s you.”

I whip my head around to face her. “That was me, Chloe, until you slept with Shayne.”

Chloe shrinks under my words, and for a second, I can’t believe this Chloe and the Chloe from the auditorium are the same person.

“I don’t think it was really Shayne.” She puts her head in her hands. “I just don’t know what happened.”

I avert my eyes and pick up another rock. “I’m not going back to the Underworld.”

“You have to, Piper.”

“Really? I’m not sure I read that rule.”

“The Underworld needs you.”

I snort. “Please. What do you know about what the Underworld needs?”

Chloe grabs my arm. “But I need you there, Piper. For when I die.”

I yank my arm away and toss the rock over the cliff. “You’re not going to die.”

But she nods. “Yeah. I am. Fate told me so. And I’m scared.”

I stand up, walking a few steps away. The wind’s blowing hard enough now my hair is flying in every single direction possible. I pull it back with one fist. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I need you there to help me. I can’t handle eternity in Tartarus.”

“You don’t have to worry about Tartarus. Randy Conner’s taking care of that for you. He managed to get all the blame.”

Chloe looks at me and blinks her eyes a few times. “He did?” She shakes her head. “But that’s not right. Not fair.”

I scowl at her, thinking of Shayne. “So why don’t you ask the Lord of the Underworld about it?” How can I save Randy Conner now? I can’t even save myself.

“It should be me. Not Randy.” Chloe stands up now, and fear creeps onto her face.

So what? Let her be scared. “Why don’t you offer yourself up in his place then if you think it’s so unfair?”

She shakes her head, and her bandana slips off center. “I told the terrorists I wouldn’t join. Said I didn’t want any part of blowing up a dome. But they used me anyway, and the next thing I knew, Randy’s dad was really dead.”

“Randy asked you to kill him.”

“I didn’t mean to do anything. I swear.” Chloe presses her hands against her face. “But Randy shouldn’t get the blame.”

I shrug. “No, he shouldn’t. Maybe if you go explain things, everything will be all right.”

Chloe looks up then, taking her hands away. “Yeah, maybe. But I’m scared.”

I nod. “You should be.” I know I’m not comforting her, but I don’t care.